Catholic high school could open in fall 2018

Published 5:08 pm, Monday, March 9, 2015

The commons area outside the chapel of St. Ann's will be a place to meet and greet. Photo by Tim Fischer\ Reporter-Telegram

The commons area outside the chapel of St. Ann's will be a place to meet and greet. Photo by Tim Fischer\ Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

Catholic high school could open in fall 2018

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While the recently announced Permian Basin Catholic high school has received official approval from San Angelo Bishop Michael Sis, parents will have to wait a few more years before they can send their teens to the yet-to-be named school.

Organizers hope to open the school’s doors in the fall of 2018, according to a press release sent out by the Diocese of San Angelo on Monday. Still in the early stages of the process, one of the first steps will be for the school's board — which will include Sis — to apply for nonprofit status with the state.

“A Catholic high school in the Permian Basin has the potential of forming committed Catholic leaders for the future of our society and our church,” Sis said Monday in a phone interview. “It will require much dedication and cooperation among the Catholics in the area to start and operate this school, but I believe we can do it with God's help.”

Sis approved the proposal for the school on Feb. 25 at the recommendation of the Presbyteral Council, a group of about 12 priests from around the diocese who “advise the bishop on issues of great importance in the life of the Catholic church in the area,” Sis said.

Sis said that the council — which has long been involved in the exploration of a Catholic high school in the Permian Basin — offered unanimous support of the proposal.

Early investigations into the possibility of bringing a Catholic high school into the area included a 2010 feasibility study conducted by a national consulting firm based out of Dallas, Sis said.

“They were studying if it was financially feasible, how it fit into the overall plans of the diocese (and) what some of the anticipated obstacles and opportunities (are) with carrying out a campaign for building such a school,” Sis said. “(They) talked with the lay people and the priests and the diocesan staff. They interviewed people both in Odessa and in Midland and they were looking to see (if) there (was) sufficient support and need for a Catholic high school in the area.”

Another key player in the future of the high school, Sis said, is Sister Elizabeth Swartz, superintendent of the San Angelo and El Paso dioceses’ schools.

“Since we currently have only three Catholic schools in this whole area, our superintendent is shared with the Diocese of El Paso because (it) is a neighboring diocese to us and they have a very highly qualified and well-experienced superintendent,” Sis said. “She is key in the process because if she advised against it, then it probably would not happen. It could happen if she advised against it, but (fortunately) she is very supportive of the project.”

Swartz will be tasked with ensuring that the new school conforms to the policies set in place by the educational department of the Texas Catholic Conference, as well as the “norms” of all Catholic schools, Sis said.

The Texas Catholic Conference will also supply the new school with an “already established a curriculum template that all Catholic high schools are expected to follow,” according to the press release.

A location for the school has not been announced, but a “generous benefactor is interested in donating land for the school,” according to the release.

After nonprofit status is received, the board is expected to hire an architect to design the facilities and begin work on the capital campaign.

In addition to the bishop, the school’s board — formally known as the Permian Basin Catholic High School Committee — will include Swartz, the Rev. Michael Rodriquez, an area priest and eight lay members: four from Midland, and four from Odessa.

The current lay committee members are Midlanders James Herrmann, Elias Reyes, Jaime Ramo and Wendy Holland and Odessans Albert Casias, Mary Jaramillo and Rosa Mendoza. A fourth board member from Odessa has yet to be named.

While the new high school will offer students the opportunity to advance both their secular and religious education, Sis said that he is also aware that “most Catholic high school students in Midland-Odessa will continue to be attending public schools.

“The number of students attending a Catholic high school are typically a small fraction of the Catholic high school students in an area,” said Sis, adding that, for those students, there is another option to expand on their religious education. “We also offer in our local parishes religious education for students who go to public high schools and other private high schools. It’s my hope that all Catholic high school students will be regularly attending their youth ministry and religious education programs at their Catholic parishes, even if they don’t have the opportunity to attend a Catholic high school.”